Coroner: Seneca man killed when gun is mishandled in home

A man was killed early Wednesday when someone apparently negligently handled a gun at his home in Seneca, Oconee County Coroner Karl Addis said.

Jason Edward Dalton, 43, of Lands End Road, died of a single gunshot wound to his upper body, Addis said. The shooting was first reported in a 911 call made to dispatchers at 3:37 a.m., Addis said.

Addis has ruled Dalton's death a homicide and it is under investigation by the Oconee County Sheriff's Office.

Deputies were told the shot that hit Dalton came from another part of the house and not the room he was in, according to Jimmy Watt, a spokesman for the Sheriff's Office. Deputies were also told that the person who fired the gun was showing it off to someone else in the home when the weapon discharged.

The person who fired the gun left the home before deputies arrived, Watt said.

The Sheriff's Office declined to release any other information in the case, citing that it remains under investigation.

No charges had been filed in the case as of late Wednesday afternoon.

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